Level winding mechanism tor sewer cleaners



Sept. 6, 1932. KNoERzr-:R ET AL LEVEL`WINDING MECHANISM FOR SEWER CLEANERS Filed Dec. 19. 1929 s ZzVe/z fam; la/z ard/wegen Patented Sept. 6, 1932 I LEONARD KNoERzVEeAND ARTHUR@ xlonn'znnj or HAMONDQINDIANA Appiicatibn mea December; 19, 1929.1, ser'1a1m.-f 41'5,1ia.ff

This invention :relates to' .level winding mechanism Vfor sevver,cleaners, and lts prin-k cipalY Objectis .the'provisionr' of novel mechanism orguiding a Cable to a Winding drum; 5r in such l"manner that 'the convolutions may L lbe Wound e'venly along the' length of.v the drum during the `vvindingoperation.V Much diiiiculty has; Vbeenfencountered in se'Wer cleaning machinery and othenmachinery 193 employing a cable in"V performing" its Work because of the ten'de'r'icyl ofthe convolutions ofthe cable to pile'upunevenly ori-the drum with they result that it frequently V beeo'yme's tangled. y

guiding meehanism,` operatedA byv the drum, has vbeen rovid`e'd,v4 4which mechanism serves:` to guide the cable to' thefidru'n in'ajhelical manner, iso that when the several layers are Q Woundu'pon the drum, each'assumesfalevel u conditionl They invention consists in'E the severalfnovel features .hereinafr fully `-'set ffortln'jand claimed,

Which-" Y. Figure'l 1s a perspectlveview o'f avportion ofthe framework of a jseWerA eleaninglinaj :30s chine'anditsv Winding drum shovvinga'siin'fr ple embodiment of the connection therewith; f

F ig. 2 is a detail ragmentall'ongitudinal section taken through' thee cable i guiding 35Y mechanism on the line 2;'-2 of 1F ig.` l, acere'l guidingarmy being. omitted from tainy cable View; a e

3 :is a detail vertical crossseetion 5 through the cable guidlngdnechanism taken E guiding arm showing certain guidefrollers The inventions' iariyfiiiustrated in the, drawing ,accompanying this speoiiicationfin- Fig. 5 is a detail .cross sectionlthrou'ghthe' arm taken on the.y line Y.5&5 ofFigQljshW-H, inggone of the `cablei.,guidingrollers.

Referring` ,toi ysaidd drawing,V theY reference' l characters(y 6, 6 l designate `Ylngtudinally Qe'xf Y v 5m tendingv iframe members whichY are 'connected by transverse framemembers, one of Whichis shown at :7,fand 8,8, designatelupright frame; members connected to longitudinal rirne members 6,' 6, by diagonal brace lmembers" 9,9, r Said frame niemberseomprise,partrof the; frame of" a sewencleaninfrmachine which is usuali @provided 'th welieels (not shown)k1 l Y l n j Where y thel machine meyjbe.transported V 15, Accord'ng to the presentinvention, cable` Y fromplacetopla'ce'. A I I, no@ Journaled. 'nbrackets lO'x'nountedpon the e diagonal bracemembers is avvi'ndingf i,

11 upon'whichacable l2'is Woundduring the operation of the-machine@ The. cable` usumounted( tfthe upper end* fof the'fupright Y frame members [8, and .said'zcable .extends to a bucket-orotlier iinplexnentf not shown)l us ed inlperforming .theWorIL Suitableniotorop-f:

eratedmeans may bef provided lfor rotating...70, the,drurnor it mayV berotatedfby manuals power, 'asdesired .As shown, fthe kmeans -for rotatingzthe druln'coniprises .1a drive shaft J13 f journaled.f'ingbearings 14ffmoiintedrV onthe r i .diagonal rbraceinenibvers 9 andvhaving'hand "75 present inventron?1n cranks2 l5 secured upon itsfoufterends#r The shaft"liaand druxnsll-extend parallell with.` eachother andarefoonnected by gearing, here shown. as comprising a pinion A16. fast onthe shaft 13 and a fgear Wheely l-.vvhiehV isffmedeim v rigid With fthe drulnll and meshes ,with the., pinionlg 1 y Rotatably, mounted onf. the shaft 13 is cylindrical-member, suchfas e, sleevef 1 8; vvhi i 1 y is driven from the, drum lil'atacertainpredef', am Fig. -4 is a detail end 'elevatlon ofthe cable andk sprocket vchain 21, Y trainedy -over said:

ett:

" latter in the groove.

sprocket wheels. A continuous helical trackway or groove 22 is formed in the outer face of the sleeve, certain of the convolutions of which groove run in one helical direction from the one end of the sleeve to the other, whereas the other convolutions of the groove run in the opposite direction and ijoin with the 'first mentioned convolutions adjacent the ends of the sleeve, thereby making a continuousgroove having right and left hand turns. The spacing of the convolutions of the grooves and the 'gear ratio between the 'drum `5and sleeve should be so proportioned that the cable guiding arm, hereafter described, is caused to travel along the sleeve at the same rate of speed as the convolutions' of the cable are wound upon the drum, so that with each complete revolution of the drum, the cable feeding arm is moved a distance equal to the diameter of the cable. v

`Traveling upon the sleeve 18'is the cable guiding arm 23 which is provided with a split collar 24 that surrounds the sleeve and containsa swiveled shoe` 25 (see Fig. 3) which travels in the helical groove 22. The shoe 25 is provided with a stem 26 which extends out through a chambered boss 27 formed on the collar 24 and hasa handle 28 upon its outer end by means of which the Yshoe mayi be retracted from the groove in case it is desired to manually shift the'position of the cable guiding arm. A'coiled compression spring 29 surrounding the stem 26 bears against a pin adjacent the shoeI and serves to hold the The shoe is swiveled in the collar so thatV it may follow the groove at the ends of the sleeve where the groove reverses its direction Yof inclination. y

From the collar 24 projects a bar 30 vwhich forms a part of the cable guiding arm, and to the outer end of said bar 30 is secured'a plate 31 on which are journaled two or more groove rollers 32..y The grooved rollers 32 travel along a guide rod 33 which extends parallel with'the axes ofthe drum and sleeve and is mounted in bracket arms 34 secured to and extending up from the diagonal brace members 9.-- Thefrollers 32 co-operate with the guiderod 33 toY prevent tilting of the arm 23 in any direct-ion. f n

kRiotatably mounted on the arm are grooved cable guidingv rollers v35 between which the cable passes to and from the'drum. At least one of said rollers is so mounted that it may vbereadily disconnected from the arm to permit the cable to be inserted between the rollers or removed therefrom.V In Fig. 5 the grooved roller 35 is shown as secured upon its spindle 36 by a nut 37. Any other equivalent means may be provided for removably securing at least one of the grooved rollers 35 upon its spindle. f i

v In the operation ofthe machine, the shaft n 13 4is rotated bymechanical or manual power *inthe proper direction to rotate thev drum.

When winding the cable upon the drum, the arm 23 is reciprocated back and forth along the sleeve 18 as a result of the propelling action f the helical groove on the shoe 25, and

the cable being guided between the grooved direction of movement of the cable guiding arm is reversed, because of the change of di- Yrection'of the groove. The shoe being swiveled in its support, it is free to turn slightly so as to follow the change of direction of the groove at theends of the sleeve, this turning movement being facilitated by widening the groove slightly at the ends of the sleeve.

The grooved rollers 32 at the free-end of the cable guiding arm23 effectively prevent the arm from binding on the sleeve which might otherwise occur because of the lateral strain of the cable against the bar. rlhe guide rod 33, being parallel with the axis of the sleeve 18, and since the grooved rollers 32 run on the rod, the arm 23 is caused to move in a direction parallel with the axis of the sleeve, and any tendency for the cable to swing the arm relative to the sleeve in any direction is effectively prevented. When unwinding the cable, the guiding mechanism voperates in the same manner as above described and permits the cable to pay out freely from the winding drum. Wishing to set the cable guiding arm at any desired place on j the sleeve, the attendant retracts the shoe from the groove and moves the arm to the desired position.

More or less variation of the exact details of constructionis possible without departing from the spirit of this invention. We desire, therefore, not to limit ourselves to the exact formk of the construction shown and described, but intend, inthe following claims to point out all of the invention disclosed We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent: y

l. Winding mechanism for sewer cleaners comprising in combination a drum upon which a cable is wound, a drive shaft extending parallel with the drum, power transmitting gearing between said power shaft and drum, a sleeve rotatably mounted on said drive shaft andphaving a continuous helical trackway formed in its face, drive mechanism for said sleeve operated by said drum, a'cable guiding arm having a collar surrounding said sleeve and provided with a shoe traveling in the groove of said sleeve, and guiding means for said arm arranged to impart right line movement to said arm.`

2. Winding mechanism for sewer cleaners comprising in combination a winding drum upon which a cable is Wound, a drive shaft and gearing between said drive shaft and drum, a cable guiding arm, rotatory arm-actuating means mounted upon said drive shaft and geared to said drum, there being drive connections between said rotatory means and 1 the cable guidingarm for reciprocating the latter in a plane parallel with the ax's of the drum.

LEONARD, KNOERZER ARTHUR T. KNOERZER. 

